Are you making the most of POST?

The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) produces a wide range of reliable and impartial scientific research for Parliament.

How the Library can help you with casework – Caseworker Discussion Forum

The guest speakers at the February Caseworker Discussion Forum will be from the House of Commons Library, covering FAQ pages, online resources, requesting information and more.

Time: 14:30 – 15:30
Date: Thursday 13 February 2025
Location: Online via MS Teams
Booking: https://parliament.learningpool.com/course/view.php?id=1953

Bank of England Briefing Session in Leeds for MPs’ Staff

The Bank of England would like to invite MPs’ staff based in and around Leeds and the surrounding regions to attend a briefing session on the work of the Bank on Monday 10 March from 10.00-12.00.

For those who would like to attend in person, the session will be held at the Bank’s offices on Greek Street in Leeds. However, this will be a hybrid session, so MPs’ staff based around the country are welcome to get in touch and attend online. Depending on demand, we will offer further sessions at our offices around the country, including in Glasgow, Belfast, and Cardiff.

Senior Bank staff will deliver a briefing on the Bank’s three main policy areas – monetary policy, financial stability, and prudential regulation – and an introduction to our Leeds office and plans for expansion. There will be plenty of time for questions and discussion of how the Bank’s decisions affect constituents up and down the country. With an interest rate decision on 20 March, this will be an ideal opportunity to ask your questions and learn more about the work of the Bank of England.

If you would like to attend, please email [email protected] to book a place in person or request a link to attend online.

Please note this session is for MPs’ staff only. However, we hold regular briefing sessions for MPs to keep them up to date on the Bank’s policymaking. The next session for MPs will be held in Portcullis House on 27 March and Members are welcome to get in touch to book a place.

Full Fact: January Caseworker Discussion Forum

The guest speakers at the January Caseworker Discussion Forum will be from Full Fact, the fact checkers and campaigners who find, expose and counter the harm done by bad information.

Time: 10:30 – 11:30
Date: Thursday 16 January 2024
Location: Online via MS Teams
Booking: https://parliament.learningpool.com/course/view.php?id=1953

Read more about Full Fact here: https://fullfact.org/about/

Webinar: Introduction to PolicyMogul for Parliamentary Users

Time: 12:00
Date: Wednesday 27 November 2024

This online webinar is your chance to learn about the value that PolicyMogul provides for MPs, peers and parliamentary staff.

As well as an overview of the platform’s features, we will highlight some best practices related to getting the most out of the platform. Session includes Q&A.

PolicyMogul is the essential online tool used by UK parliamentarians and their teams to stay up to date with the latest political updates and intelligence related to their work and responsibilities.

For full details and to register, please visit https://about.policymogul.com/parliament/

Bank of England Briefing Session

The Bank or England invites parliamentary staffers into the Bank of England for a briefing session, covering the Bank’s main policy areas.

The event will take place in the Bank’s offices on Threadneedle Street, and will consist of talks and Q&A sessions with Bank staff on their areas of expertise.

Time: 09:00 – 12:00
Date: Friday 10 January 2025
Venue: Bank of England, Threadneedle Street, London, EC2R 8AH

To register, please email [email protected] from your parliamentary email address.

The Open University Westminster Showcase

Invitation for Parliamentary Staff

The Open University Westminster Showcase

Thursday 14 November, 1.15-3pm (drop in at any time)
Attlee Suite, Portcullis House

Dear all,

We would like to invite you to The Open University Westminster Showcase, an event dedicated to Parliamentary staff members. The event will be held on Thursday 14th November, 1.15-3pm in the Attlee Suite, Portcullis House, Westminster. Refreshments will be available.

The event is an opportunity to find out how The Open University (OU) can support you in your day-to-day work in Parliament and in the constituency, the free resources you can share with constituents and local businesses as well as the free learning and development opportunities available.

On the day you can:

Learn about the free OU research and insights available to use when you’re writing briefing notes, policy documents or speeches.
Explore our free learning and development opportunities available to you and constituents.
Hear about the free OU insights local businesses and public services can access to support them with skills development and workforce planning.
Have a go at an online experiment via our Queen’s Anniversary award winning OpenSTEM Labs which enables OU students to access scientific equipment wherever in the world they are studying.
Network and meet colleagues from across parliament and the research and think-tank sectors.
Discover what Mars smells like…

The OU plays a significant role in local communities across the UK, with OU students based in every local area – including in the constituency you support.

Please RSVP and let us know if on the day you would like to collect a copy of your Constituency Profile, which includes useful facts and stats on the number of OU students in your constituency and their demographics.

All parliamentary staff members are welcome so please do share this invitation with anyone you think might like to attend.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Free PolicyMogul Webinars

PolicyMogul is hosting two webinars to introduce parliamentary users to its platform. You can learn more about it, and sign up for the webinars here: https://about.policymogul.com/parliament/

Sessions, including a Q&A will take place on:

Friday 11th October, 12:00
Tuesday 15th October, 16:00

You can read a bit more about PolicyMogul here: https://w4mp.org/w4mp-guides/researcher-extraordinaire/policymogul-a-free-political-monitoring-and-research-platform/

POST – The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology

The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology is a valuable resource for MPs and researchers.

Their website describes the work they do as follows:

What we do

The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) is a research and knowledge exchange service based in the UK Parliament. It works to ensure that the best available research evidence and information is brought to bear on the legislative process and scrutiny of Government. It primarily supports the select committees of both Houses.

POST:

publishes impartial, non-partisan, timely and peer-reviewed research
helps Parliament to access experts and evidence
identifies emerging areas of interest to Parliament through horizon scanning
supports the exchange of information and expertise between researchers and the UK Parliament through fellowships and other knowledge exchange activities

Latest briefings include: automated vehicles; reducing plastic waste; What is the metaverse and what impacts will it have for society; food waste; Health impacts of ultra-processed foods; and Mental Health Act reform – impacts on autistic people and people with a learning disability.

To find out more about POST and to access it’s research briefings, please go to its website:

https://post.parliament.uk

MP Office Manual Published

Between June 2023 to June 2024 a cross-party group of civic technologists worked together to create the MP Office Manual. They are all keen to see MPs with well run offices contributing to a flourishing democracy in the UK.

You can read it at mpofficemanual.uk

The proposals in the manual come from in-depth interviews with current and former MPs office staff and expert advice from 30+ practitioners, allied with a survey of staff members and a review of current literature including all past guides and examples found on w4mp, Hansard Society, and Parliament.

We hope you find it useful – and if you have any suggestions for improving it please get in touch.